Happy Monday (weren’t they a band or am I showing my age now?)
I haven’t got a Medieval Monday post lined up for today so I’m cheating by sharing an interview I did for Books and Winegums. It’s a fab blog which covers all sorts of books, not just romance or history. Check out my interview then have a look at some of the other articles too.
via An Interview with … Elisabeth Hobbes
Welcome to another First Kiss Friday! Today’s guest is the fabulous Elisabeth Hobbes who has been here a time or two especially with our Medieval Monday blog hop. Today Elisabeth has an excerpt from Beguiled by the Forbidden Knight. Happy reading, my lovelies, and enjoy!
Excerpt:
They watched each other, eyes locked in challenge. They were standing closer than they had been in the river. Much closer. He could smell the slight scent of lavender, which made him want to bury his face in the soft spot behind her ear to see if she was the source of it. The room seemed to grow hotter as the intensity of her gaze held him fast.
‘What would happen to you if I told the prioress?’ Gui asked. ‘You really didn’t want me to admit to having met you, did you? I think you weren’t supposed to be there.’
It was…
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Medieval Monday has finished for the time being but I don’t want to leave you with nothing to read so I’m sharing a short excerpt from my new book Beguiled by the Forbidden Knight getBook.at/ForbiddenKnight
He’s her enemy…
…and she must not fall for him!
When her mistress is claimed as an enemy knight’s betrothed, handmaiden Aelfhild knows it would be too dangerous for her lady; she must go in her place. But there’s more to the scarred knight than she first thought—she isn’t expecting to fall for him! As the line between friend and enemy blurs, Aelfhild realizes she might be protecting her mistress, but not her heart…
This scene takes place shortly after Gui has caught up with Aelfhild and Lady Sigrun who are on the run from him. Guy does not know it but they have swapped identities. I’m mainly sharing this snippet as it is a useful pronunciation guide to his name.
Aelfhild knew without turning what expression she would see on the face of the man behind her. Aelfhild’s hair was flax. Sigrun’s was summer wheat. Her eyes were the blue of a summer sky, not a winter stream. She had a womanly figure and her father’s height. Aelfhild almost changed her plan
‘Here is your true bride,’ she should say. ‘See what a beauty you have really won.’
She couldn’t do that to Sigrun, though. It was not her fault she was beautiful and, in truth, it had never before this moment bothered Aelfhild to consider herself less so.
‘This is the Lady Aelfhild, my companion.’ She turned to the Breton who was, as she had predicted, gazing at Sigrun. She realised at that point that she could not remember his name, though he had given it to Hilde in front of the women. Embarrassed, she looked at him questioningly. ‘And you are?’
The Breton tore his eyes from Sigrun’s form.
‘Gui,’ he murmured, as if waking from a dream.
Aelfhild wrinkled her forehead. That did not sound quite right. The Breton blinked and took a step towards her.
‘Gui—Guil—Sir Gilbert du Rospez.’ He bowed deeply to both women. ‘Pardon me, I was not thinking, merely remembering a childhood diminutive. I am Gilbert du Rospez.’
Remembering nothing! Busy ogling Sigrun, Aelfhild thought with unaccustomed envy.
‘Well then, Sir Gilbert du Rospez.’ She rolled the unfamiliar words around her mouth, trying out his pronunciation: Geelberr du Rhopey.
He said nothing for a long time. Perhaps she was mangling his tongue too badly. He gave her a smile, his misshapen lips twisting and his eyes glinting. ‘It might be easier for you to call me Gui, Lady Sigrun, Lady Aelfhild.’
He inclined his head towards each woman as he spoke. Aelfhild and Sigrun exchanged a glance. Remembering to answer to the correct name was going to be a challenge!
Ghee. A little easier to say. She tried it and he smiled.
Beguiled by the Forbidden Knight is out in paperback and ebook on May 31st.
Preorder your copy here
Amazon: getBook.at/ForbiddenKnight
The latest Medieval Monday was Author’s Choice. I chose Home Truths, and a scene quite late on in the book when Lucy had finally had enough of Roger’s hypocrisy and let rip at him. I’m sharing the whole scene here of anyone who missed some of the snippets.
A knife stabbed Roger’s chest, knocking the wind from him harder than if the blow had been real. He gripped the doorframe. He must have made a sound because the miller’s eyes focused on him. ‘Wait your turn,’ the miller barked. ‘She hasn’t yet started on me.’
Lucy whipped her head round. Her face twisted with horror. She pointed a trembling hand at the door.
‘Get out!’
The miller jerked Lucy round to face him once more.
‘You’ve not even begun yet,’ he said harshly, putting his hands on her shoulders and attempting to force her to her knees.
Lucy looked over her shoulder at Roger.
‘I told you to leave.’ Her words turned to a sob.
Roger stepped forward and tugged her hand from the miller’s belt. ‘You’re leaving with me.’
She wrenched free and ran from the room with her head down.
‘Where are you going?’ demanded the miller.
Roger bared his teeth in a warning growl to silence the man, then followed. Lucy was running at full tilt towards the river and the road skirting round the town. She ignored Roger’s cry. He broke into a run and seized her by the arm. She fought him, but Roger was not to be deterred. He took her by the waist and held her tight, hands spread in the hollow of her spine. She wriggled in his arms like a dove trying to escape a hawk. He’d dreamed of holding her this close, the tantalising moments when they had come close to kissing had driven him wild, but this was not what he had imagined.
‘What are you doing here?’ Lucy asked through gritted teeth. ‘How did you find me?’
‘I won the game and the purse. I wanted to tell you, but you weren’t where I had left you,’ Roger said. Remembering the plans he had been making on his way there, he felt his temper surge.
‘Is that Robbie’s father?’
‘No!’ She stiffened in his arms.
‘Is he your lover?’ Was this the reason she had refused him? The miller already had a claim on her affections. Roger’s pride revolted at the idea that she would give herself to a repellent figure like Risby while refusing Roger. She refused to meet his eye, twisting her torso away from him. Roger took his hands from her waist and stepped back, his heart splitting in two.
‘I take it that means he is.’
Lucy made a sound of disgust. She fixed him with eyes full of contempt. ‘Is that what you think love looks like? That says more about you than it does about me! Do you really think I could love a man like him? Don’t you know anything of me?’
Her lip trembled and her voice dropped to a whisper. Her eyes filled with tears that made Roger’s heart break. ‘I owe him money I haven’t got. He suggested another way I could pay the debt.’
Understanding flashed through Roger, followed by revulsion. Lucy was not doing this through love, or even desire. It was a cold-hearted transaction. Roger wasn’t sure if this was worse or better than believing her in love.
‘You were going to give yourself to him?’
‘Not completely,’ Lucy protested. ‘There are other ways to satisfy a man, as I’m sure you know!’ She covered her face with her hands.
‘All the time I’ve lived under your roof I believed you a virtuous woman,’ Roger muttered. ‘Now I discover I could have bought an hour’s tumble if I’d had the money.’
‘The commodity is mine to do with as I please.’ Lucy’s eyes were now free of the tears he had seen threatening to spill and were full of icy fury.
‘Is that how you view your body?’ Roger asked in disgust.
‘Isn’t it how men see it?’ She drew herself up to her full height, shoulders back, causing her breasts to jut forward in a way that Roger could not ignore.
‘You’d have paid if you thought that might allow you to wet your staff, you just admitted it. How many women like me have you swived in your time? How many do you think wanted to be doing it? Did you ever stop to wonder why they took your money?’
‘I rarely had to pay them.’
‘Not in coins, perhaps,’ Lucy muttered.
Roger thought of the women in his past. Kitty, the maid at Lord Harpur’s house, even Joanna who he had never persuaded to do more than kiss and fumble, to say nothing of the handful of women he could barely even remember. A pang of loneliness shot through Roger. ‘Are you suggesting they only accepted my attentions for what I gave them? I always assumed they had loved me.’
‘That’s my point!’ Lucy shouted. ‘Perhaps they cared for you, perhaps they felt forced, but you never asked. It never occurred to you that you had to. At least I’m honest enough not to pretend I care for Risby and I know he cares nothing for me. Tell me, what I should have done instead? How should I survive with no money and no one to help me?’
Lucy flung an arm out violently towards the miller’s house. ‘It doesn’t matter who you are, poor men like him…rich men like you…like Robbie’s father…’
She swept closer to him, trembling with anger, her cheeks scarlet. ‘You use women like me until you’ve had enough, then you leave us to mend our lives and reputations as best we can.’ She wrapped her arms around herself, trembling violently. ‘You have no idea what it costs me to do this. How I die inside each time, wishing it would be over. You dare to sit in judgement over me? How dare you!’
In the face of her bile, Roger recoiled. How had this changed from his abhorrence at what she had done to her attacking him?
‘If the woman you fathered a bastard on hadn’t died in childbirth, would she be doing anything different to me now? How many of those others did she lie with willingly and how many so she didn’t starve?’
Her words knocked the strength from Roger. He shook his head, unable to defend himself against her accusations.
‘You have nothing to say? From the moment you met me you did your best to talk me into your bed.’
‘I tried to get you into bed, but I wanted you to come willingly,’ Roger protested. ‘I wanted it to mean something.’
‘Mean something? To you or to me?’ She laughed. She actually laughed, loud and shrill, until Roger understood it was no laugh at all, but pain escaping in an alarming flood of emotion.
‘I know you want me and you know I want you, too. I’ve resisted you and tried to ignore the feelings and desires I know will only lead to misery but it hasn’t been easy.’
She reached out and put her hands on Roger’s face, fingers spreading to caress his cheeks. The gesture was so unexpected after her venomous outburst that Roger accepted her touch without thinking. She looked into his eyes, piercing his soul with her intensity.
‘Now you know what sort of woman I am, do you still want me?’
He did. Despite what he had seen, the thought of touching her ran like molten iron through his blood. She was in his arms, her breasts pushing against his chest, sending a surge of longing through him. His lips craved hers…
‘You have money now. Will you spend your winnings on rutting in my bed?’
She ran a hand slowly from his cheek down his chest to settle at his waist. He gasped as lust riddled his body, instantly hardening him. Her eyes briefly flitted down and she looked into his eyes triumphantly.
‘Should I do that for you instead and use your money to pay him?’ she breathed.
Roger growled in revulsion as the blood that had raced hot became ice. He clenched his jaw, only realising as she whipped her hands away that Lucy would have felt the tension through her fingers. She gave one distraught sob before she turned on her heel and ran. The sound ripped Roger’s heart from his chest, leaving him hollow and the strength that had been ebbing since his exertions at the tilt failed him.
This time he let her go.
Blurb
The spy who sought refuge… When injured spy Sir Roger Danby comes asking for shelter at her inn, Lucy Carew is wary. He may be strikingly handsome, but the disgraced single mother has learned the hard way with men like him. Against her better judgment, she gives him refuge. Sir Roger has never been at the mercy of a woman before, and he’s never met one as mysterious and bewitching as Lucy. He hasn’t come looking for redemption, but Lucy is a woman who could reach in and touch his closely guarded heart…
Redeeming the Rogue Knight is available online in the following places
Amazon Buy here
Mills & Boon Buy here
Harlequin Buy here
B&N Buy here
Book Depository Buy here
It’s the final week of Medieval Monday and all the authors involved are sharing the final excerpt from our own stories. If you’ve been following Roger and Lucy around the blogs you’ll know she is far from happy with him, and with good reason.
She ran a hand slowly from his cheek down his chest to settle at his waist. He gasped as lust riddled his body, instantly hardening him. Her eyes briefly flitted down and she looked into his eyes triumphantly.
‘Should I do that for you instead and use your money to pay him?’ she breathed.
Roger growled in revulsion as the blood that had raced hot became ice. He clenched his jaw, only realising as she whipped her hands away that Lucy would have felt the tension through her fingers.
She gave one distraught sob before she turned on her heel and ran.
The sound ripped Roger’s heart from his chest, leaving him hollow and the strength that had been ebbing since his exertions at the tilt failed him.
This time he let her go.
Blurb
The spy who sought refuge… When injured spy Sir Roger Danby comes asking for shelter at her inn, Lucy Carew is wary. He may be strikingly handsome, but the disgraced single mother has learned the hard way with men like him. Against her better judgment, she gives him refuge. Sir Roger has never been at the mercy of a woman before, and he’s never met one as mysterious and bewitching as Lucy. He hasn’t come looking for redemption, but Lucy is a woman who could reach in and touch his closely guarded heart…
If that has whetted your appetite you can get hold of Redeeming the Rogue Knight online by following one of these links.
Amazon viewBook.at/RogueKnight
Harlequinhttps://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780373299461_redeeming-the-rogue-knight.html
Book Depositoryhttps://www.bookdepository.com/search/Redeeming-the-Rogue-Knight-Elisabeth-Hobbes/9780373299461
Welcome to my penultima Medieval Monday. Today I have the amazing Sherry Ewing with me, and an excerpt from Only For You: The Knights of Berwyck, A Quest Through Time Novel (Book 2).
“Enough, Marguerite!” Riorden declared, holding up his hand to silence any further speech. He turned to his brother. “Gavin, please do me the favor of escorting our ladies from the stench of this place and see if the Garrison Hall is in any better shape. I will not allow Katherine to become ill from the filth residing within these walls. ’Til this hall meets my approval that it has been sufficiently cleaned, it remains off limits to Katherine and Brianna.”
You can read the next snippet on Sherry’s blog next week but if you head over there now you can read my excerpt from Roger and Lucy’s story.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that true love conquers all only after the battle is over…
Katherine de Deveraux has it all or so she believes when she begins her life with her husband Riorden. But as she starts to settle into her duties as the Countess of Warkworth Castle, she finds that an easy life is not only difficult but downright dangerous to her well-being.
Consumed with the haunting memories of his father, Riorden must deal with his sire’s widow who just happens to also be his ex-lover. Yet how could he know just how far Marguerite is willing to go in order to have the life she feels they were truly meant to live?
Torn apart by circumstances neither Katherine nor Riorden could ever imagine, Time becomes their true enemy even while Marguerite continues her ploy to keep Riorden at her side. With all hope lost, will Katherine and Riorden find a way to save their marriage and have their happily ever after ending, or will Katherine be whisked back to where Time truly feels she belongs?
Buy Links ~ Read for #FREE in Kindle Unlimited:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1MLVECd
Read the final snippet next week on Sherry’s blog at https://sherryewing.com/blog/
I’m delighted to welcome Judith Sterling to the blog today. Her excerpt is from Shadow of the Swan (The Novels of Ravenwood, Book Three)
With hands clasped behind his back, he studied the tapestry. “Lady Ravenwood’s grandmother made this,” he remarked. “The ones in the solar, too. Uncommon skill!”
Constance moved to stand beside him. “Indeed. I’ve never seen its equal. And what a fetching scene.”
He turned to her but said nothing.
After a moment, she met his gaze. “Why do you stare at me?”
Follow along next week at Mary Morgan’s blog: http://www.marymorganauthor.com/blog
and you can find Roger and Lucy on Judith’s blog today so don’t forget to head over and see what they’re up to.
Lady Constance de Bret was determined to be a nun, until shadows from the past eclipsed her present. Marriage is the safest option, but she insists on a spiritual union, in which physical intimacy is forbidden. Not so easy with a bridegroom who wields unparalleled charm! But a long-buried secret could taint his affection and cloak her in shadow forever.
Back from the Crusades, Sir Robert le Donjon craves a home of his own and children to inherit it. From the moment he meets Constance, he feels a mysterious bond between them. When she’s threatened, he vows to protect her and agrees to the spiritual marriage, with the hope of one day persuading her to enjoy a “real” one. She captivates him but opens old wounds and challenges everything he thought he believed.
Two souls in need of healing. Two hearts destined to beat as one.
Buy Links
Amazon: https://amzn.com/B078JYQDTX
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadow-of-the-swan-judith-sterling/1127751024?ean=2940158925597
The Wild Rose Press: https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/5561-shadow-of-the-swan.html
Welcome back. This week I’m delighted to welcome Ceci Giltenan with an excerpt from A Wee Highland Predicament: A Duncurra Legacy Novel
“Nay, we can’t go to Castle Carr. The Carrs and the Macraes are not allies. I wouldn’t be welcome there.”
That wasn’t completely true. There was no formal relationship between the Carrs and the Macraes but neither were they enemies. But this young woman was not likely to be well-versed on clan politics. The Grants and the Carrs had allied themselves nearly eighty years ago through marriage, but that bond had weakened over time. Still, none of that really mattered. Nothing under God’s blue heaven would make Lucas hand this little treasure over to anyone. He was returning home without a betrothal. William wasn’t going to be happy, but the ransom Laird MacLennan’s sister-in-law would bring might go a long way to soothing his ire.
“The best plan is for me to take ye home.”
Follow along next week on Jenna Jaxson’s website: https://jennajaxon.wordpress.com/. Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of A Wee Highland Predicament or another e-book of your choice by Ceci Giltenan.
Remember, you can find all the excerpts via Twitter using #MedMon18 and you can find Roger and Lucy over on Ceci’s blog today www.cecigiltenan.com
Sometimes a bad boy can be a good man.
Lucas Grant’s brother is going to be furious. Lucas was supposed to secure a betrothal with a wealthy heiress to save his clan from financial ruin. After meeting her, he cannot marry the detestable woman.
As he flees Edinburgh to escape her, he happens upon six men who are holding a lovely Highland lass captive. He can’t just leave her to whatever fate awaits, so he rescues her.
Well, perhaps rescue isn’t the right word…
When he learns the feisty lass he stumbled upon is Ailsa MacLennan, he sees another way to help his clan. He’s going to hold her for ransom.
But when she steals his heart, what will the ransom be?
Buy Links:
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0799T7KB3
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0799T7KB3
Amazon Canada https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0799T7KB3
Amazon Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0799T7KB3
Welcome back to another Medieval Monday. Today I’m delighted to welcome fellow Mills and Boon author Jenni Fletcher. She’s sharing an excerpt from Besieged and Betrothed.
‘If I surrender, do you promise that my men won’t be harmed?’
‘They won’t even be prisoners. They can join Sir Guian’s men or they can leave. Whichever they choose.’
‘All right. As long as you understand that every decision I’ve made since the battle has been mine and mine alone. I take full responsibility for everything. Any punishment should come to me.’
He felt vaguely unsettled again. What did that mean? The solemn way that she said it suggested there was something else, something he didn’t know about, that she took responsibility for.
‘I’m not here to punish anybody, Lady Juliana. I told you, the Empress only wants the bridge.’
Ruthless warrior Lothar the Frank has laid siege to Castle Haword, but there’s a fiery redhead in his way—and she’s not backing down!
More tomboy than trembling maiden, Lady Juliana Danville would rather die than lose the castle. When she’s caught on opposite sides of a war, a marriage bargain is brokered to bring peace. But is blissful married life possible when Juliana has a dangerous secret hidden within the castle walls?
Buy Links:
http://bit.ly/2yZxh8T Barnes & Noble
http://amzn.to/2uNq4CW Amazon US
http://amzn.to/2sM1FfV Amazon UK
http://apple.co/2jinIY9 iTunes
Don’t forget to head over to Jenni’s blog to discover what Roger and Lucy are getting up to.
This Medieval Monday I’m delighted to welcome Barbara Bettis to the blog. She’s sharing an excerpt from The Lady of the Forest.
She leaned over to brush a strand of dark hair from his face. Her fingers lingered on his forehead. On impulse, she rounded the table and enveloped the boy in a hug. For a very brief moment, his thin shoulders softened, and he leaned into her embrace.
In less than two heartbeats, he pulled away, his bravado once again in place. “What’ll we do, Cade?” he asked. “You can count on me.”
“I know. You’re very brave. But right now, I think we must try to rest. Ideas come better to a fresh mind. And if a fight comes, it wouldn’t do to yawn right when we need to let loose an arrow, now would it?”
He giggled at her words and got to his feet.
“Don’t forget to wash your face and hands, and use the willow twig on your teeth.”
He wrinkled his nose. “All right,” he grumbled, heading for the corner where a basin sat beside a wooden bucket filled with water.
Kate sighed. She couldn’t wait for morning. Fresh mind or no, she had to devise a plan to free them both. She wouldn’t wait for Alyss’s reply.
Follow along next week at www.marymorganauthor.com. Be sure to leave a comment for a chance at an ebook of your choice.
Remember, you can find all the excerpts with the hashtag #MedMon18 on Twitter.
You can find Roger and Lucy over on Barbara’s blog today. www.barbarabettis.blogspot.com
BLURB:
He must pursue his enemy; she must protect her people. Can their love survive the duties that drive them apart?
When her elderly husband dies, Lady Katherine fakes her own death and disappears into the forest with others escaping the brutish new lord. Determined to protect her people, she knocks the wrong man senseless. But Lord Henry isn’t an enemy, he’s the brother of her childhood friend. Although his tender confidence tempts her, she’s bound by duty.
Henry of Chauvere has found the one lady he wants for his own, never mind she’s tied him hand and foot. When he learns the king has ordered her to wed Stonehill’s ruthless new master, he insists Kate seek haven with his sister. But she won’t desert her friends. Henry vows to solve her problem, provided he catches a traitor before the threat from Kate’s past catches her.
When a daring rescue compels Henry and Kate to join forces, their attraction grows into love. If only duty didn’t drive them apart.
